something was bothering me for a good chunk of the 7 or so hours i played of this. i generally really enjoy rockstar's stuff (i mean, this game's successor and red dead redemption II are two of my favourite games of all time), so... why do i not like this? other than being less refined than later entries in rockstar's catalogue, it's still the same general formula they've stuck with for decades.
i just, truly don't think this greyer version of GTA works all that well. niko bellic is a horrible, awful person, going off of the info the game gives you within my 7 hours of play time. having your main character be an ex-human trafficker is maybe not the best way to get me to care about him. like, sure, GTAV's Trevor is probably worse in almost every way, but i think that game's more satirical, wacky tone fits that way better. i never once felt like i was being asked to genuinely sympathise with Trevor.

and idk, other than that, i just found this boring? like, i just spent the last 2 hours doing gig work as main story missions. gig work that ends up playing out almost identically every time, for characters who are somewhat memorable only in how loud they yell everything. maybe i'm missing something, but i was not once compelled to care about a single person i met in Liberty City, and without that aspect this game is absolutely nothing.

Driving is semi realistic 9/10
shooting feels like a live leak video 8/10
The map is really boring but still a solid foundation 6/10
atmosphere is depressing 7/10
story is 7.5/10 for me